Cult food (An examination of fringe religions and their restaurants)

Cosmic cookery: How fringe religious groups helped launch the health-food movement. - By Daniel Fromson - Slate Magazine:

Image via Slate

I must confess that at first the idea of eating at restaurants where waiters might be hoping to convert me seemed a little creepy. And since these places are run by groups that many people consider "cults," a quick Google search is practically guaranteed to turn up unappetizing allegations of misogyny, child abuse, homophobia, racism, brainwashed and unpaid staff, and so on.

In response to the challenge in the Browser piece that led me to this article, I don't think the Attleboro Cult ever ran a restaurant. (In fact, part of their undoing had to not with not feeding their children ...)

Moyers and Goodall

Guernica / God Bless You, Mr. Greybeard:

Jane Goodall via Guernica

“She’s been my hero for decades.” And the nine-year-old daughter of our video editor hurried into the studio because she was writing a school report on Goodall (she got an A, by the way). Everyone was aware of who Jane Goodall is or what she has done to close the gap between the animal world and our own species. 

Goodall herself evolved from a youthful enthusiast of animals—inspired by her father’s gift to her of a toy chimpanzee he named Jubilee—to the world’s most noted observer of chimpanzees and a global activist for all of life on earth.

The GOP elephant Ed Helmsified

DIRECT Ezine for Democrats - Democrats, politics, political commentary, political opinion, political humor

The Bilingual Advantage (Eitt tungumál er aldrei nóg)

The Bilingual Advantage - NYTimes.com: 

If you have two languages and you use them regularly, the way the brain’s networks work is that every time you speak, both languages pop up and the executive control system has to sort through everything and attend to what’s relevant in the moment. Therefore the bilinguals use that system more, and it’s that regular use that makes that system more efficient.

The bad news is your high school French doesn't buy you any time against the encroachment of Alzheimer's; true bilinguals, using both languages all the time, hold off the most serious symptoms of the disease five to six years longer than monolinguals and dabblers.

I have lots of hare-brained ideas from a number sources, it's one my quirky charms -- or so I maintain in the face of laughter and mockery. For example, I think we should all wear motorcycle helmets when we're driving. But that's not the one I wanted to tie into this post. One of the things that I thought was cool in Dune as a youngster was that each Houses used their own battle language. I thought it would be handy if my family spoke a language no one else spoke (or at least no one we were ever likely to meet) so, if we needed to exchange confidential information in a public setting, we talk freely without risk of being eavesdropped upon. Before my kids were born, I idly considered starting to learn Gaelic or Icelandic so I could teach them a family battle language. It would, of course, be more practical to encourage them to learn Spanish, Mandarin, or Bengali, a language they're likely to be able to use, but if I were really practical, we'd all be wearing helmets in the car.

When Rob Lowe says your sexual activities are shocking ...

Alex Kingston and Rob Lowe challenge theatre lovers to 'steam up stalls at the Donmar' | Mail Online: 

"Guys, please, a little discretion."

Lowe, who was once involved in a sex scandal over a videotape of him having sex with two women, one of whom was 16, said even he was shocked by the couple’s erotic hobbies.

The 'Doctor Who' tag is for Alex "River Song" Kingston discussing it and the 'AaronSorkin' tag is for a Lowe reference in the article to seeing the couple in action while performing in A Few Good Men. #MethodToMyMadness